jayinhk wrote:Trying a higher grade sample from the same vendor. Less intense flavor, but also less rough and more consistency in terms of appearance.

According to my limited experience, I feel like higher grades Dan Cong are more about subtleties than obvious, intense flavors. Balance. A lot of things are happening within your mouth, throat and body.

Drinking the left-overs from yesterdays small sample of Red Blossom's Aged Formosa Da Hong Pao c:a 1992. Amazing tea! My first example of an aged oolong that I really enjoy, most that I've had before have been to astringent for my liking.

This one had a strong peppery, dark sweet sirupy ryebread, liqorice, gunpowdery taste. Incredibly clean and smooth with a penetrating mouthfeel. Just smelling the dry leaves before brewing, the scent would stick in your nose cavity.

Today I am trying imperial beauty from Mountain Tea. I really like this tea! Very strong smell of cinnamon and nutmeg. Sweet which I also like. Also, the aftertaste lingers and for reason I feel like I am tasting a buttery or milky hint. Great tea for thanksgiving and would pair nicely with a good pumpkin pie. I usually drink a Shui Xian and this doesn't seem to far from that taste in some regards.

I like that tea also, but you mention a lot of subtle flavors from MT's Imperial Pearl that I did not catch. I'll pay more attention next time I drink it.

I agree that the other tea that you usually drink (Thai red pearls), is quite close to Imperial Pearl. For me the Imperial is sweeter, actually slightly too sweet.

Both are the Jin Xuan varietal, but the red pearls from Thailand is roasted a bit less than MT's Imperial Pearl from Taiwan.

I believe the amount of roasting is more of the difference than terroir because to me regular (very lightly roasted) Jin Xuan from Taiwan tastes almost exactly the same as the regular Jin Xuan from Doi Tung, Thailand.

Here are some pics of Qi Lai Shan oolong I am enjoying so much. A bit of spice in the tip of the tongue and a mix of resembling pine trees and nectarines topped with a subtle mineral taste; an extremely fresh oolong. A real winner, for sure:

I decided to splurge and get of Hou De's 2010 Spring Zhen-Yen. It smelled great the moment the hot water hits but I think I am not using enough leaf. I filled my gaiwan about 40% of the way up. I think I need to fill 100% however my gaiwan is 180ml. I think I need a 80-100ml one so I don't go broke.

Da hong pao, This is an amazingly good DHP for the price. has tons of mineral finish, a deep fruity body, and the roast is PERFECT. Not to heavy not to light, Just right. been brewing this at 5 + grams in a 60 ml pot. steeps on and on.

Bought some very good (and very pricey by my standards) Wild SX with SilentChaos earlier today. It costs more than 5x as much as the SX I usually drink. As soon as the water hit the leaves I knew I had something special.

The first infusion tasted like fresh apple pie and cinnamon, and had very good sweetness. The later infusions were still sweet and still had apples, but there was also a hint of sweet butter that I seem to detect in most SX. Amazing tea and well worth it, as with most of my local supplier's high end offerings.